Boston Celtics

The Celtics will be playing this game on a back-to-back. They are hosting Memphis on Friday night before flying down South for this one. Then, they are at home for five in a row to end the month against some easy opponents with Golden State mixed in. I suspect Boston may be a dozen games over .500 by the end of January.

It isn’t just an easy run of home games, upcoming. The Celtics are, slowly bur surely, playing better basketball. It hasn’t been an easy process; the gains have been a bit like the stock market, volatile but gradually upward. The process isn’t close to over yet, either.

But Gordon Hayward is starting to find his role as the playmaker of the second unit, along with Terry Rozier. It sure helps to have Aron Baynes in there, along with Jaylen Brown, which gives Boston the most talented bench in the league, if you ask me. What other team has that much legitimate playmaking in the reserve?

The starting lineup has an identity now, too, both Marcus’ mixed in with Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford. There’s a fine mix of everything you could want in a basketball team in that five-man lineup.

I’ve never strayed from picking Boston to win the East but I think the opportunity to buy is quickly drying up. The Celtics are only going to climb in the East between now and the end of the season.

Atlanta Hawks

This game looks a little tougher for Boston than it had, say, a month ago, when Atlanta lost by 17 in Brooklyn to fall to 6–23.

The Hawks have gone 8–7 since then, a remarkable stretch for a team that looked like it was headed for the most ping-pong balls in the Lottery this summer.

Injuries to guys like Kent Bazemore, Jeremy Lin and Taurean Prince, who recently returned to action, opened up minutes for two guys who have spurred the good play to get more minutes.

I’m talking about “Red Velvet,” aka Kevin Huerter, and DeAndre’ Bembry. Huerter is 6’7″; Bembry is 6’6″ and both guys offer some much-needed playmaking from someone other than Trae Young.

They’re both averaging just about 2.5 assists per game on the season but both have done a lot better than that lately. Bembry has at least five assists in three of his last five games and Huerter is averaging closer to four per game for over a month now. He dropped seven dimes in a blowout win over Miami last week.

With those two guys making plays on the wing, Young has had more lanes to drive and less responsibilities on offense. That’s huge for the rookie’s development.

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